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  Home  >>  Baked Goods  >>  Cookies




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Great American Cookies

Founded in 1977 with an old family chocolate chip cookie recipe, Great American Cookies offers fresh-baked cookies made daily with hand-scooped batter.  Great American Cookies has set the standard for gourmet cookie sales in shopping centers, and has expanded its product line to include brownies and the famous Cookie Cake. The strength of its recipes and celebratory, fun environment has boosted Great American Cookies to the leading position in mall-based cookie stores.

 

Great American Cookies is part of NexCen Brands, which manages six franchised brands in the QSR and retail industries; including Pretzelmaker/Pretzel Time, Marble Slab Creamery, MaggieMoo’s, The Athlete’s Foot and Shoebox, New York. NexCen franchises total approximately 1,900 franchised stores in 42 countries. NexCen plans to expand the Great American Cookies concept beyond shopping malls and into the corporate gifts business. NexCen is also exploring opportunities to add pretzels and ice cream to the Great American Cookies product line, while retaining the high-quality products that have propelled over 30 years of consistent growth.

 

Operating Units

12/31/2006

12/31/2007

12/31/2008

Franchised

291

286

288

% Change

--

-1.7%

0.7%

Company-Owned

0

0

0

% Change

--

0.0%

0.0%

Total

291

286

288

% Change

--

-1.7%

0.7%

Franchised as % of Total

100.00%

100.00%

100.00%

 

Investment Required

The fee for a Great American Cookies franchise is $25,000, with a discounted fee for franchisees opening multiple stores or certain co-branded stores. 

 

Great American Cookies provides the following range of investments required to open your initial franchise. The range assumes that all items are paid for in cash. To the extent that you choose to finance any of these expense items, your front-end investment could be substantially reduced.

 

Item

Established Low Range

Established High Range

Franchise Fee

$20,000

$25,000

Real Estate and Improvements

$110,000 - $114,000

$170,000 - $242,500

Cookie Ingredients

$5,000

$10,000

Other Initial Inventory

$2,500

$9,500

Computer System

$2,200

$3,000

Training Expenses

$1,000

$5,000

Opening Advertising

$3,000

$3,000

Other Prepaid Deposits and Expenses

$3,000

$5,000

Professional Fees

$2,000

$6,000

Insurance (3 months)

$2,500

$3,500

Miscellaneous Opening Costs

$5,000

$10,000

Additional Funds (3 months)

$5,000

$10,000

Total Investment

$166,200 - $170,200

$260,000 - $332,500

 

On-going Expenses

Great American Cookies franchisees pay a royalty fee equal to 6% of net sales for the preceding month and a marketing fee equal to 1.5% of net sales for the preceding month.

 

What You Get—Training and Support

Training begins at NexCen University in Norcross, GA, a state-of-the art franchise training facility.  Franchisees are taught courses by subject experts from the NexCen management team, and also participate in workshops and seminar presentations. NexCen University utilizes highly interactive and advanced instructional techniques including video and online demonstrations.

 

In addition to initial training, franchisees receive assistance with site selection, design and construction.  Field representatives visit franchisees periodically to provide marketing and operations consultation. Great American Cookies provides marketing and public relations support, which builds brand awareness, drives traffic to the store, creates brand loyalty, and increases visit frequency.  Franchisees also have the opportunity to network with fellow owners who can impart their experience and knowledge.­­

 

Territory

Great American Cookies does not grant exclusive territories.